Promising recruit Luke Brown has set his sights on the NAB Cup after an impressive start to his first pre-season at West Lakes.
Brown joined the Crows last October as part of a trade week deal with Greater Western Sydney, which also netted the Club fancied North Ballarat midfielder Brad Crouch.
The timing of the deal meant Brown was able to join his new teammates on day one of pre-season training - a full month before Adelaide’s next batch of draftees, Sam Kerridge, Mitch Grigg, Nick Joyce and Cam Ellis-Yolmen.
The 19-year-old, who played league SANFL football with Norwood last season, took full advantage of his head start, partaking in every session and commanding the attention of the coaching staff with his competitive nature and neat disposal by either foot.
“Everyone is going to be sore in the first couple of weeks of pre-season training. I was able to adjust to the workload slowly with the rest of the squad and that was something I probably had over the other new guys,” Brown told afc.com.au.
“I pretty much did all the training from the start with the exception of a few running sessions at the end of training when I went inside and did boxing instead to get off my legs
“Having a year of SANFL footy and a senior pre-season behind me has helped a bit too, but it’s still such a big step up coming into an AFL club.
“It’s a lot more demanding in terms of the training and workload, but I think I’ve become used to it pretty quickly.”
After being overlooked by all 17 clubs at the 2010 AFL Draft, Brown made marked improvement with the Redlegs last season.
He was called up from the reserves to make his senior debut in round one and didn’t look back, playing 21 games in the league team to rocket into first round AFL draft calculations.
“Having a full pre-season with the senior team at Norwood was very beneficial,” he said.
“I had an opportunity to play in the trial matches against the bigger bodies and went from there.
“That development tends to happen pretty quickly when you’re playing against men.
“[Norwood coach and ex-Adelaide full-back] Nathan Bassett helped me a lot too.
“He tells you what you need to do to become a better footballer and what AFL clubs are looking for.
“He also gives you the confidence to try things on the field.”
Quietly-spoken away from the field, Brown has a serious case of white-line fever.
The 180cm utility hasn't taken a backwards step on the track, and his competitiveness has spilled over into the boxing ring, where he’s among the Club’s better performers.
“I don’t mind the boxing … I can get the anger out a bit,” he said with a laugh.
“I’m not really competitive off the field or outside of footy, but on the field when something is there to be won I just want to win it.”
Brown has already been earmarked as a long-term midfield prospect at Adelaide, but for now he’s content with trying to find his niche in defence, where he has been training with the team over the summer.
“I like to start at half-back, beat my opponent and then run off,” he said.
“I don’t mind the open spaces on the wing, but would also like to get into the midfield one day.
“This year, I just want to develop as a player to further my career more long-term than short-term, but in saying that I’d like to try and get into the NAB Cup games and see how I go from there.
“The team is young, so it seems like there’s a good opportunity to try to crack into the side and create a spot for yourself.”
Brown is also adjusting to the other demands of being in the AFL system.
The former Tea Tree Gully junior, who played more than 150 junior games at the Club, is working on his fitness and has also adjusted his diet with the aim of losing 'puppy fat' while maintaining his 78kg frame.
The one-time apprentice carpenter has chosen worthy teammates to model his training on.
“I look up to senior players like Nathan van Berlo, just with his running ability and how he attacks training every session,” he said.
“Scott Thompson and Rory Sloane are good to watch in the competitive drills because they go 100 per cent all the time.”
